Charlie Forever In Time (pdf)

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ted how easily Coco had accepted Jake. She d read that animals were
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good judges of character. Did that mean that Jake was trustworthy? She
snorted derisively. Here she was considering the opinion of her cat.
Maybe she was the one who was a bit loony tunes. She rubbed her fore-
head as thoughts and emotions swam around in her mind.
Maybe Jake was crazy and maybe she was too. Maybe the whole
world was going off the deep end, and did it even really matter? What it
came down to was how she felt about Jake. Did his story change her
feelings about him? She searched her heart and realized that he was still
the same person she d made love with last night. He was still kind and
gentle, intelligent and funny, brave& So what if he had this one quirky
idea? Was it so important that it negated everything else about him?
She felt a smile breaking out on her face as she realized the answer. Jake
was Jake, and she loved him for who he was right now, past lives or not.
And some of his story was true. The healing part she believed. After
all, she d seen the evidence with her own eyes when the knife wound
had disappeared, but the rest& Well, there was no way of proving or
disproving it. All that existed was a file full of personal information
about herself.
Pushing off from the counter, she headed to the bedroom to take an-
other look at what he d collected on her. The papers were still scattered
all over the room, where she d dropped them earlier. Bending down,
she began to gather them together, skimming over some of the data as
she went. It was quite comprehensive and accurate. Stacking it on the
bed, she collected the pictures next, making a little moue over her ap-
pearance in some of them. She hated pictures of herself.
One was sticking out from under the edge of the bed, and she tried to
pick it up, but it seemed to be caught under something. On her hands
and knees, she peered under the box spring to see what it was hooked
on. Somehow it had snagged on the seam of a large metal box. She
pulled the box out and worked the picture free, then started to push the
box back only to pause when a single musical note came from inside. It
sounded like a music box.
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Intrigued, she pulled the metal container back out again. She loved
music boxes and wondered what kind Jake might have. Lifting the latch,
she paused feeling a bit like Pandora, but then scoffed and peeked
inside.
It appeared to be some kind of memory chest full of keepsakes and pa-
pers. A silver music box was sitting the corner. She picked it up and ad-
mired the intricate carving then lifted the lid. A simple song started to
play, the tune both familiar and haunting, though she couldn t put a
name to it. She smiled as the delicate notes filled the room, then when
the song had finished, she closed the lid and tipped it over to see if the
song s name was on the bottom. There was no name, but it was in-
scribed "To Elizabeth, Love Thomas. She wondered who they might
be. Possibly Jake s parents, if he did indeed have any.
Setting the music box down, she explored further. There was a gold
plated hair brush, a string of pearls, a few letters faded with age in a lan-
guage she couldn t read& Wrapped in tissue she found a framed por-
trait, the quality and the costumes of the occupants letting her know it
was from that late 1800 s. "Natalia and Ivan Moscow, 1883" was writ-
ten on the back. A small painting of a woman was the next item she
found. � Jean aime Maria - joyeux anniversaire, 30, mai 1815 was
written on a small cardboard tag with hand drawn flowers.
She studied the small portrait and noted the woman seemed vaguely
familiar. There was something about her eyes, her smile& Carefully
she picked up the photograph and peered at it. It appeared to be the
same woman, which was impossible given the dates. Possibly a grand-
mother? Staring at the photograph of the man, she realized that she was
looking at a picture of Jake, or at least his double. With her finger, she
traced the familiar jaw, nose and eyebrows. He was stern looking with
longer hair, as was the style for the time, but there was no mistaking that
the man in the photo was Jake.
Could his story be true? She took the picture into the bathroom and
held the photo up so she could see it and herself at the same time. The
hair was different, her lips were a bit fuller, but the eyes, the cheek
bones, the determined chin they were all hers. Setting the picture
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down carefully, she gripped the edge of the sink. Was Jake telling her
the truth? Had she lived before, or was it just some strange coincid-
ence? It seemed incredible, but this appeared to be actual proof.
The sound of the apartment door had her rushing back to the bed-
room, guiltily trying to restore the items to the metal chest before Jake
discovered she d been snooping. He called out her name and his foot-
steps came closer. She laid the photograph inside, put the music box
back in, reached for the lid and started to flip it shut&
Steph? The bedroom door swung open and she turned to look just
as the lid was coming down.
Ow! The metal top slammed on her hand. A thin line of blood ap-
peared and she pulled her hand back wincing as the nerve endings
throbbed. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, rocking back and forth as
the waves of pain shot up her arm, making her feel slightly faint and
queasy.
Steph! What happened? Where are you hurt?"
My hand! The lid fell on it. I think I broke a finger or something.
Let me see. He took her hand and gently cradled it in his own. Al- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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